Gun-Rights Backers Rally in Hartford

By PETER APPLEBOME

March 11, 2013

HARTFORD — More than 1,000 supporters of gun rights, most wearing red stickers reading “N.R.A. Stand and Fight,” packed the atrium of the State Capitol on Monday as Connecticut’s protracted negotiations on new gun laws seemed to be lurching toward a resolution.

Many advocates for gun rights, who stood in the morning chill with signs reading “We Will Not Comply” and “Dictators Prefer Unarmed Citizens,” said the aggressive gun-control being pushed by Democrats would do nothing to keep residents safe while infringing on their rights.

But many said that after the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, they were expecting lawmakers to pass sweeping gun controls, perhaps including an expansion of the state’s assault weapons ban and a prohibition on magazines with more than 10 rounds.

The gun-rights lobbying at the State Capitol in Hartford included Luke Warg, 14, of Canaan, Conn.

Wendy Carlson for The New York Times

“I almost get the impression they’re going to ignore us,” said John Agnese, 22, who said he had been involved in shooting sports since he was 12.

Leaders in the General Assembly met for the third day on Monday after a bipartisan subcommittee failed to come up with a unified agenda last week. The main sticking points were differences between Democrats and Republicans on which assault and assault-style weapons would be banned, and the maximum sizes of ammunition magazines.

But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders support expansive gun regulation, Democrats control both houses, and public opinion appears to favor tougher laws; as a result, many on each side of the issue said the only question on the legislation was when, not if.

More than 1,000 gun-rights advocates lobbied at the State Capitol in Hartford on Monday.

Wendy Carlson for The New York Times

A Quinnipiac University poll last week found that Connecticut voters supported most gun-control measures by two to one or more, with 93 percent supporting universal background checks.

In the poll, 68 percent backed both an expansion of the statewide ban on the sale of assault weapons and a ban on the sale of ammunition magazines with more than 10 rounds.

One option under discussion is to vote on a bipartisan package now and to delay the most vexing issues until the end of the session. But Democratic leaders like the Senate president pro tempore, Donald E. Williams Jr., and gun-control advocates have said that anything less than a full agenda would be unacceptable.

“I think it would be tremendously disappointing to the people of Connecticut and the people of this country if we did the low-hanging fruit and then the real stuff later,” said Ron Pinciaro, executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence. “That would be hard for people to understand.”